The irony of political figures deemed corrupt by national and international voices continuing to try to delegitimize the election of the anti-corruption candidate for his alleged support for democracy and treating him as a criminal writes like dystopian fiction at best and authoritarian tyranny at worst.

For anyone who’s ever wondered what it looks like to “do justice” or “take up your cross” or “love your neighbor as yourself”, Generous Justice by Timothy Keller offers a concise yet theologically deep overview of the model for sacrificial love God lays out for us in the Bible.

Is Story International a mission organization, seeking to spread the Good News of redemption through Jesus Christ, or a service organization for vulnerable children and parents, modeled after Biblical love and set on seeing every child grow up in a family?

Brought by the police to a local hospital, “Sofia” (or “Monse”) entered the child protection system in desperate need of support. She was very behind developmentally - she struggled to walk, couldn’t speak, and she had attachment and emotional regulation problems.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

For over 70 years, the first Thursday in May has been recognized as the National Day of Prayer in the United States.

We’ve got some prayer requests for you today.

We aim for our work to be sustainable, responsible, and transformative. Unfortunately, child sponsorship doesn’t always get the highest marks in these categories.

So we’re opting for something we believe is even better.

Deinstitutionalization, apart from being one of the most difficult words to pronounce in Spanish (11 syllables!), is probably one of the most important words in contemporary global development.

For far too long, we (Westerners) have often been reckless in our attempts to solve each and every one of the world’s problems with nothing but enthusiasm and a passport. We have allowed the privileges afforded to us to fuel the idea of exceptionalism, resulting in an ignorant (and oftentimes arrogant) belief that confidence, not competence, is enough to right the wrongs of the world.

Behind almost all Christian development work being done around the globe is a strong, ever-present fixation on justice. We know that our God is just, and that we ought to be living into His Kingdom by seeking to do justice (Micah 6:8) and live just lives, whether that be through our ministry or even just in the day to day.

For this reason, it is so important that we don’t give up - that we keep investing in eternity. That we keep planting seeds. Some of these seeds might sprout, and some seedlings might survive, and some of those seedlings may even become saplings and one day, by the grace of God, some of those saplings will become sequoias.